Hot chocolates and Bedtime Stories
by HoloGhost
Summary: Alfred and Peter have the house to themselves. But as night time came, a storm rages and the two find themselves awake in the middle of the night.  AU


**Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya**

Please enjoy. C:

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><p>It was weird sleeping in someone else's house. Everything was so different from what I'm used to. Sure, I've been to Arthur's place a couple of hundred times, but the cleanliness of it all never fails to make me uncomfortable. It was like no one was living there. There were no signs that this little bungalow was inhabited. No garbage, no kitchen smells, no family pictures. It was so clean that it was eerie. Why did I agree to baby sit his son again? Oh, right. Because Arthur said so.<p>

There was no use in trying to sleep. The bed sheet smelled strongly of detergent and it was giving me a headache. Plus, I was hungry. I was on my way down to the kitchen when I heard the snivelling. God, that was the worst thing to hear in a dark, silent house during a storm. Luckily for me, I realized that the sounds must have come from Peter's room before I could pee myself. I lightly tapped on his door and called out. The sniffling stopped.

"Peter? 'Ya okay?"

The room was black, save for the street light glowing lightly through the window and a little white spot plastered on the closet doors. I called out to Peter again, who seemed to be huddled under the sheets, breathing loudly through his mouth, hand holding a flashlight, eyes watching the closet.

"There's something in there, Al." Peter whispered. I was about to tell him there couldn't possibly be anything in there when a thunder cracked the sky.

"Alfred! Alfred! It's coming to get me!"

In a matter of seconds, the lights were on and I had Peter in my arms. I gave him some light pats on his back to make him calm down. All sorts of fluids began to ooze from his face, and all the while he kept calling for his papa.

"Yeah, shh. Arthur's gonna be here soon. The rain is just slowing him a little, that's all."

The talking calmed him a bit, but not enough to make him stop bawling. I sat there for a while, realizing how much noise the kid could make. No wonder chose to live in the middle of nowhere. They'll be a lot of trouble with the neighbors otherwise. I was suddenly reminded of myself when I was young, and Arthur would come and talk to me whenever I found myself crying late at night so I won't wake the neighbors.

"You know," I said, nudging Peter a little. "When I was a kid, I used to be freaking scared of storms like this, and the dark in general. Your dad would come to my room with two cups of hot chocolate. We'd drink and he'll tell me stories about pirates and sorcerers. Then before I knew it, I'd fallen asleep."

Peter was looking at me now. His green eyes were wet, but at least they weren't leaking anymore. His cries tuned down to little hiccups.

"I don't know the pirate story."

"What? You mean Arthur didn't tell you? He loved telling that story."

Peter shook his head. "No. Can you tell it to me?"

It's been years since I last heard that story, but I somehow managed to preserve it in my mind. I tucked Peter back under the sheets. Then I cleared my throat and began. I told the story just as Arthur had done many times before. Every word said exactly as he did. I even tried to mimic Arthur's voice. Peter fell asleep just as I said the last word.

Arthur arrived around three in the morning, drenched to his underwear. While he changed his clothes, I went ahead and made hot chocolate for the both of us. We sipped the drink while I gave him a report of my day with Peter. When I told him about the latest incident, one of his eyebrows shot up.

"He fell asleep just like that? My pirate story sure is impressive," he boasted.

"Nah. I'm just a great story-teller."

"Hmpf. But you know, I always thought it was the chocolate that did the trick for you," he admitted as he took our empty cups to the sink.

The truth is; it was neither the hot chocolate nor the bedtime stories that put me to sleep when I was a kid. It was Arthur's voice that did it. It wasn't that he has an awesome voice or anything. It's just that Arthur was always there with me -especially when dad went MIA- and his voice sounded so familiar and comforting. I didn't bother to correct his assumption, though. I just left him with his unawareness of how much I owe him.

After we cleaned up in the kitchen, Arthur disappeared into his room with a yawned 'good night'. I went back to bed then, or at least tried to. It's no doubt that Arthur is the best big brother I could ever ask for, and a good dad too. But damn, his house is still as creepy as hell.


End file.
